60 Artists & IllustratorsGRAHAME’S NEW PALETTE
Before I began this series of articles, I guessed that I would
end up confirming that my existing palette would be perfect
for me, but in reality I have made some quite fundamental
changes. However, after simply making a swatch of the
colours in my existing palette, I realised some of them were
quite close in hue to one another, while other parts of the
spectrum were not really covered at all. I was using some
colours simply because I always had done, without really
analysing their usefulness and relevance to my painting
technique and subjects.
I have decided to leave Permanent Alizarin Crimson,
Cobalt Blue, Brown Madder, Raw Sienna, Cadmium Red
and Cadmium Yellow to the side for the time being and by
introducing Quinacridone Magenta and Pyrrole Red to my
basic palette instead, I feel I can now mix a wider variety of
hues that effectively renders those six colours redundant.
I have discovered the joys of Cobalt Teal, a colour that
allows me to mix beautiful hues I have admired in other
artists’ paintings, and I am confused but entranced by the
way Green Apatite Genuine from Daniel Smith granulates
into two colours. Only time will tell if these will become
permanent changes, but if nothing else this process has
made me think again about colour and how it affects a
painting – something that I would actively encourageall artists to do. And what about
the brand variations?
I can honestly say that I would be
very happy to use paints from any of
the manufacturers tested. Consistency
was good throughout – there were no
pigments that were either too runny or
too stiff, while all of them mixed easily
in a wash. I found no problem at all in
intermixing paints from different
manufacturers.
Pigment strength varied quite a lot, even within the range
of a single manufacturer. This should be expected simply
because some pigments are naturally more intense than
others, but I felt that the M Graham & Co. paints that I
tested were generally noticeably stronger than the others.
On the downside – and possibly because of this – they
seemed to cause more staining to my palette. If you use
lifting out as a technique (or as a rescue remedy), the
more traditional colours are easier to lift than the more
intense staining colours but almost all lifted to an
acceptably useful degree if you only wish to lighten part
of a wash. (I’ve actually found that it is the type of paper
that has a much greater impact on the ease of lifting out
than the paint itself).THE PERFECT PALETTE
(Clockwise from top)- Phthalocyanine Green
(Yellow Shade) - Green Apatite Genuine
- Titanium White
- Modern Aureolin
- Quinacridone Gold
- Burnt Sienna
- Quinacridone Magenta
- Pyrrole Red
- Neutral Tint
- Ultramarine
- Phthalocyanine Blue
(Green Shade) - Cobalt Teal
THE PERFECT PALETTE
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